The present invention relates to a cover for an impact protection device air bag for vehicle occupants, and, more particularly, to a cover having at least one upwardly pivoting cover flap in, for example, the dashboard of a vehicle.
Impact protection devices which are accommodated in the dashboard of vehicles and have a cover consisting of one or more cover flaps are known. For example, DE-PS 38 00 652 describes a cover flap for the air bag of an impact protection device for motor vehicle occupants. This device has a base part which is held at its one side edge by joints and at the other opposite side edge by tear-off connections on the dashboard of a vehicle. The tear off connections are constructed as tear-off elements which each have two attachment parts which are connected to one another by a flexible articulation element. One of the attachment parts here can be connected to the base part of the cover flap or be of integral construction therewith and the other attachment part can be connected to the dashboard. The articulation element which connects the two base parts to one another has a reduced cross-section with respect to the attachment parts. This point with reduced cross-section constitutes a predetermined break point which, in the case of an accident, breaks as a result of the pressure exerted in the opening direction on the cover flap by the inflating air bag, as a result of which the opening movement of the cover flap about the joints attached to one side edge is made possible.
German Offenlegungsschrift 38 11 373 discloses a cushion, which surrounds the air bag of an impact protection device, essentially with a box shape. That cushion is of integral construction with an insertion part onto which a cover layer made of a soft artificial resin is formed. The cover layer has at a predetermined point a thin-walled area which breaks when the air bag inflates. The insertion part also comprises a multiplicity of nets which are arranged on opposite sides of the thin-walled area and are connected to the upper area of the side walls of the box-shaped device. When the cover layer breaks along its thin-walled area, two flexible cover layer sections which are connected in each case to the side walls of the device and can be easily pushed to the side by the expanding air bag are thus formed.
An object of the present invention is to further improve the holding and coupling of one or more cover flaps of an impact protection device and, at the same time, reduce in particular the expenditure on production and fitting.
The foregoing object has been achieved in that, in a cover of an impact protection device of the type mentioned above, the at least one cover flap is injection molded onto a carrier part by a tough elastic plastic. The plastic surround has along a cover flap edge, intended as pivot axis, a cross-sectional tapering which serves as a hinge, and the plastic surround is constructed at at least one further edge of the cover flap as a groove. In the event of pressure on the at least one cover flap in the opening direction, the groove easily releases an edge, in particular the carrier part edge, which is held therein.
A holder and coupling according to the invention for a cover flap of a cover for an impact protection device consists of a single material, namely a tough elastic plastic, as a result of which the expenditure on production and fitting is considerably reduced with respect to that for known covers. The fact that no predetermined break points are provided in the cover according to the present invention also has the effect of simplifying manufacture and, furthermore, provides the possibility of reusing the cover with its plastic surround after an accident, if desired.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the carrier part is a separate carrier frame which is permanently connected to the frame of the dashboard. A further embodiment of the present invention provides for a construction of the cover which consists of two cover flaps arranged one on top of the other. In this embodiment, the upper one of the two cover flaps can be pivoted upwards and the lower one can be correspondingly pivoted downwards. Advantageously, the edges of the two cover flaps which face one another are also connected to one another by a tough elastic plastic which is securely connected to the edge of one cover flap. Towards the edge of the other cover panel, a groove is provided to hold this edge and easily release the edge in the event of pressure on the cover panel in the opening direction. The concept of the present invention for holding and coupling a cover flap can thus also be applied to covers consisting of several cover flaps.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the at least one cover panel of the cover is provided around its periphery with a tough elastic plastic surround.